


We're Taking A Walk

by Haospart



Series: The Local Neon Sithlet Does Some Shit (It's a whole lot of feelings) [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Military Bullshit, Skaia spends like 2k words comforting a soldier because he's a sweetie, i accidentally made my character an empath, referenced abuse of a military position, referenced survivor's guilt, this is my prerequisite 'establish the character' fic lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 14:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30107067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Haospart/pseuds/Haospart
Summary: He's loud.  Loud to look at, loud to be around, with a presence like a freight train.  He's expected to be, and expected to be terrifying and imposing, and so he is.Sometimes, just sometimes, he can use that to help.
Series: The Local Neon Sithlet Does Some Shit (It's a whole lot of feelings) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2224050
Comments: 5
Kudos: 11





	We're Taking A Walk

**Author's Note:**

> **Featured Characters:**  
>  Sith Warrior - Vitas'kai'anaf (aka Skaia)
> 
> I can't write characters until I give them an Establishing Thing apparently, so here's Skaia doing his best and being Very Nice for like 2k words
> 
> Also apparently Skaia's an empath???? Fckn Wack.

_ Dromund Kaas _

He could see it already, didn’t  _ need _ to even see it to know what was happening, to feel it across his skin. Panic, fear,  _ horror _ , all of it spiking in the poor Imperial officer’s heart seeing him approach. In all his eye-searing, difficult-to-look-at neon glory.

But it wasn’t the colors he wore, it wasn’t the painfully bright pinks, purples, or the shocks of green amongst it all. No, it was the  _ lightsabers _ at his hips that the officer focused on. Scared of the tiny Sith, because the officer was already getting chewed out by their superior. On any normal day it was a struggle for those doling out punishment to toe the line between too harsh and not enough when a Sith passed by.

Too much, and a Sith might find themself inclined to decide that such a soldier wasn’t worth the effort to discipline, and that soldier’s personal effects would have to be sent home in a crate. Too little and it would be seen as not enough, and again it ran the risk of a Sith taking it upon themself to ensure that the ‘proper’ retribution was paid.

Normally, when Skaia passed, soldiers had already received their (usually abbreviated) punishment speech and dispersed. He barely cleared 5 feet tall, in (bright purple, green-striped) 5 inch platform boots, but with all the neon he managed to fit in his outfit he’d be seen from a long ways off. He dressed loud on  _ purpose _ .

He’d hoped to avoid this sort of situation, pass through, get his information and direction, and head out without incident, but he could feel the approaching breakdown of the unfortunate soldier. If they cracked while he was around, well, he couldn’t very well pass that by.

_ Well _ , he  _ could _ , and in fact was  _ expected _ to. It was supposed to be beneath his notice, beneath him to even acknowledge the fear he inspired. And that… no. That wouldn’t work. He couldn’t… he couldn’t let that kind of distress pass him by and act like it didn’t affect him. He had to do, at the very least,  _ something _ about it. He’d made up his mind about it.

Unfortunately, the first few minutes of what he planned to do would scare the  _ shit _ out of the poor soldier, already so close to crumbling.

Well, nothing to be done about that, really. Except get it over with.

Skaia changed course, veered off towards the fearful soldier, and when he passed them by he took the back of their shirt in hand, turning them and pushing them along while maintaining his purposeful stride.

Panic, terror, dread. It washed over his senses, sharp and sudden, and he ignored it.

“Calm yourself, we’re going for a walk.”

Predictably, this did  _ jack shit _ to calm the soldier, who whimpered quietly at the words. Eh. Worth a shot. One day, that might work. Unlikely, but maybe.

They rounded a corner together, the soldier directed by Skaia’s hand fisted in their shirt, and disappeared from sight. He pushed them further, a few moments beyond where anyone was likely to see them even if they went looking. Which didn’t do any favors for the emotional state of the poor officer, but, well, it was necessary.

They started to hiccup, unable to handle the stress of being carted off by the young chiss sith any longer, until Skaia pulled them to a halt. He swung around, stepping in front of them and turning to face them.

“Shhhh, it’s alright, I’m not going to hurt you,” he lowered his voice and pressed a finger to his painted lips, shushing the soldier gently as he looked up at them, “You’re not in trouble. Not from me, and not while I’m here. You’re safe right now.”

Confusion, bewilderment, fear..? Not quite fear. Something adjacent and not clearly understood. Good, better than terror, better than horror. Fear- _ adjacent _ meant not afraid. But the soldier calmed, marginally.

“There we go, good.  _ Peace _ , calm yourself. I mean you no harm,” he probably sounded  _ ridiculous _ , a Sith gently calming and consoling a random, terrified soldier, talking of  _ peace _ and  _ calm _ .

He reached out, gingerly placed his hand on the soldier’s arm, and gave it a light squeeze. Their breath caught in their throat for a moment, before they relaxed--they let the breath fall from them and took another, deeper, slower,  _ calmer _ .

“You’re not going to- You’re Baras’ apprentice, aren’t you?”

"Indeed," Skaia tilted his head to the side, letting a loose, easy smile work its way onto his face, "His 'enforcer' and 'executioner' if his words are to be taken seriously--which, to be fair, certainly should be--but we're going to pretend I'm not that for a moment, that I don't have to be. Just for a bit."

The soldier narrowed their eyes, suspicious though trying to fight it.

"Can I have your name?" Skaia pushed his hand forward slightly, lifted in front of him before the officer could rattle off a designation, "I don't need a rank or anything, uh, just your name."

"Aeco."

Finally a name to the face _. _ Brilliant.

"Aeco, nice to meet you. And my apologies for scaring you, it wasn't my intent. If you like, you can call me Skaia."

Aeco shuffled uncomfortably and gave him an unsure glance, "I– my Lord, I'm not sure that's appropriate."

He laughed, the sound bubbling up and out with a snort as he thumped Aeco gently on the shoulder with the back of his hand, “Well, no one said you  _ had _ to. But if you’re comfortable enough to question my suggestions, then I think I’ve done what I intended to do. Not quaking in your boots anymore.”

They were still uncomfortable, shuffling their feet with a confused sort of half-anxiety, but Aeco seemed to be warming up to him. Progress.

“If I might ask, that other soldier seemed quite upset with you. Enough to keep delivering that, uh,  _ aggressive _ dressing down even knowing I was approaching. What happened?” their anxiety spiked again, touched down on his skin in a sharp crackle and Skaia took a stuttering step forwards, “Hey, hey no--it’s alright. You’re not in trouble from me. I  _ won’t _ hurt you, Aeco. I promise.”

It took a few moments, a few murmured and whispered assurances, another few promises of good and kind intentions, to calm them down again. At least enough to reassure them of his sincerity.

"You'll be alright. I just want to know what happened. And you, I won't be angry if you don't tell me. You don't have to. I won't  _ make _ you, I just wanted to know. But I won't hurt you for it," he took a step back. He knew who he was, knew  _ crowding _ the poor officer wouldn't help.

That seemed to do the trick, being given the option of silence. Aeco took a breath.

“I-- my unit got caught up in an ambush, out in the jungle. No one else made it back and I-- well the C.O doesn’t have anyone else to--” they stuttered to a halt as Skaia’s expression fell into something rough, irritated, with narrowed eyes, “I, uh, I’m sorry. I didn’t--”

He blinked and bit his lip, “No it’s…” he sighed and took a deep, calming breath to center himself, “You’re fine, Aeco. I’m not angry with you. Are you… was that soldier yelling at you for  _ surviving? _ ”

He didn’t need to hear the answer. Aeco’s guilt and heartbreak touched him, no longer buried under anxiety and fear and shock. Instead he reached out, gently took Aeco’s hand and tugged them along to a nearby rock. Slightly damp, but that was to be expected of Kaasian weather. It was serviceable, the right height and wide enough for two people. 

“Come on, here we go,” Skaia pulled them down to sit on the rock and sat beside them, “You shouldn’t be reprimanded for  _ surviving _ .”

They hummed, quiet for a moment before they spoke again, “His wife was in my unit.”

“So he kept berating you on  _ purpose _ , while I was walking up, didn’t he? He’s hurting, and thought he could inflict hurt by using a Sith, huh?”

Aeco sniffed, looked down and away, “ _ Probably _ .”

“Oh, love, you don’t deserve that,” he tucked himself into their side and took a moment to snake an arm around their shoulders, pulling them into a firm, gentle hug, “You’ve suffered enough without being targeted for that kind of trouble.”

The two of them stayed there for a few minutes more, Aeco quietly grateful for the kindness. It was a feeling that caught in the back of Skaia’s throat, but didn’t crawl over his skin like anger or anguish did. The tiny Sith kept the soldier there until he felt their heart melt into something calmer than what it had been. The pain was still there, and it would be for much longer than he could stay, but it seemed Aeco had accepted that they’d been treated with unfairness.

When Skaia pulled back, releasing them, they heaved a sigh, “Now what?”

Ah. Good question. Hm.

“Well, for one, I’m not going to send you back to that soldier, for him to find another Sith to try to kill you with,” he hoped,  _ really hoped _ , that it didn’t sound like he was making it up as he went along--which he was, “We’ll get you a transfer elsewhere. I'm not letting some vengeful idiot put you in the path of someone less reasonable than me."

"A transfer?"

"Mhmm," he nodded and brought his hand up to his mouth, tugged on his lower lip while he thought, "and I've been good, followed orders, hopefully Baras lets this slide or sees it as  _ networking _ instead of… whatever you'd  _ actually  _ call this."

"A rescue?"

The response startled a laugh out of the small Sith, "Is that what we're calling it? A rescue?  _ Void– _ a Sith rescuing a soldier from their commander,  _ on purpose _ . No one would believe it if they saw it."

But that pulled something else up, brought up  _ another _ important point. Appearances. The thing about being one of Baras' apprentices, and one of the more visually striking ones, is that reputation starts to  _ matter _ . And the fact that Skaia preferred a peaceful approach needed to remain a carefully guarded secret, even from Baras.  _ Especially  _ from Baras.

"Ah, problem."

"Problem?" Aeco's brows knitted together and worry creased their forehead.

"Not anything I can't fix but– hm. Lean in a bit would you?"

They complied, confused but unresisting. Delightful, that made this less complicated.

"Sorry," he mumbled, with just enough grace to look as apologetic as he could, before tangling a hand in the hair at the back of Aeco's head and pulling them closer. He dragged his other hand across his mouth, smearing his bright, colorful lipstick and ignoring as best he could the sudden spike of fear from the soldier in front of him. Satisfied with the result, he pushed his hand across Aeco's mouth and cheek, leaving a trail of smudged neon in its wake. With that, he let them go, allowing them to recoil and reassess.

"I– what? My Lord?"

He grimaced and shuffled back as far as he could while seated, away from Aeco, “Sorry. Unfortunately, I  _ do _ have to keep appearances. I’m Sith, and I stole you away from your commanding officer while he was kicking up a fuss. For most Sith, there’s only one or two expected outcomes. With you dead and me having decided I don’t like you, or with you wishing you were and me having decided I  _ do _ . Well, if we want that transfer for you then it has to look like I’ve, er, taken a  _ particular liking _ to you-- and I wasn’t going to ask you to kiss me.”

He watched the gears turn in Aeco’s head, watched them process. And then it clicked.

“ _ Oh _ .”

“Yep. There we go. You got there,” Skaia watched an uncomfortable flush bloom over the soldier’s cheeks. 

“So that’s why you- hmm.”

“ _ Mhmm _ ,” he pat their knee gently a few times, then stood up, “Right. You’re going to want to get yourself packed. I’m putting you on the next speeder back to the capital.”

Their alarm was left behind as he turned and strode off, head high and projecting as much satisfied confidence as he could while he ruffled his hair, tangling it and fluffing it until it was an unruly mess. Aeco scrambled to their feet behind him and followed, not daring to stutter a protest out.

  
Well. He could at least say he’d done  _ some _ good today. No matter what he’d have to do when he was done procrastinating carrying out Baras’ latest execution order.


End file.
